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NBIA Announces 2006 Soft Landings Designees

Program Recognizes Incubators That Help Companies Reach Beyond National Borders

September 28, 2006

ATHENS, Ohio—A panel of experienced business incubator managers recently designated six incubation programs from around the world as new NBIA Soft Landings International Incubators. Through the Soft Landings program, the National Business Incubation Association recognizes incubators that are particularly adept at helping nondomestic companies enter the incubator’s home market.

New NBIA Soft Landings International Incubator designees include Emerging Technology Centers of Baltimore; University of North Dakota’s Center for Innovation & Technology Incubator of Grand Forks, N.D.; US Market Access Center of San Jose, Calif.; @Wales Digital Media Initiative of Cardiff Bay, Wales; Technopolis Ventures of Espoo, Finland; and Twin Technology Business & Innovation Center of Helsinki, Finland.

Business incubation programs like these catalyze the process of starting and growing companies by providing entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. Incubating nondomestic firms takes more than the standard set of incubation services, however. “Soft Landings is a recognition of an incubator’s focus on welcoming nondomestic firms into its domestic market with cultural translation services, help getting through red tape, and other programs,” says Randy Morris, NBIA director of membership.

The fact that incubators are actively reaching beyond their borders shows a new level of maturity in the field, says Dinah Adkins, NBIA president & CEO. “The incubation industry has evolved tremendously over the past 20 years because of globalization,” she says. “There are now nearly 5,000 business incubators around the world, and many incubator managers are helping clients access large regional and global markets.”

Adkins believes the industry has reached the critical mass needed to make international linkages work. “There are people doing this work in an exemplary fashion, and it’s important for us to identify them,” she says. “By identifying what these incubators are doing, we can provide information that others can emulate, thus creating more successful programs working along these lines.”

Soft Landings International Incubator designations are effective for two years; programs must reapply biennially for continuing designation. In 2005, NBIA presented Soft Landings designations to ATP Innovations of Sydney, Australia, and Wallonia Space Logistics of Liege, Belgium, during the inaugural year of the program.

For more information about NBIA’s Soft Landings program, visit www.nbia.org/resource_center/soft_landings/index.php.

The National Business Incubation Association is the world’s leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Since 1985, NBIA has provided industry professionals with the information, education, advocacy and networking resources they need to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies.